Published: Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 6:44 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 11:02 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH — Like a scene out of a James Bond movie, the phone rang and Dr. Bonnie Sorensen received her assignment.

Go to Jacksonville and find 2,100 people suspected of having been exposed to tuberculosis, the person on the line said. Most on the list are homeless and sleep in crowded shelters.

Sorensen, director of the Volusia County Health Department, ventured north just after Labor Day and spent four months living in a hotel in Jacksonville, commuting home on the weekends. She served as incident commander of a special group dedicated to containing the TB outbreak and made Patrick Johnson, director of the Flagler County Health Department, second in command during part of her tour of duty.

"She is an incredible public health leader," Johnson said. "I pretty much jumped at the opportunity to spend some time working with her."

Public health workers under Sorensen's supervision checked databases and canvassed homeless shelters, jails, parks and underneath bridges to find those on the list. Positive cases of TB were given a 12-week course of antibiotics. About 12 percent tested positive, and most had the latent form of the disease, meaning their immune system had the disease in check and they were not symptomatic.

Sorensen resumed her normal duties in Volusia County Jan. 2 and is now watching another health threat — the flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expecting a particularly rough season, and Boston declared a public health emergency when hospitals became overwhelmed with patients with flu-like symptoms.

During Sorensen's absence, Dr. Celeste Philip, assistant director of the Volusia County Health Department, took the leadership reins.

If flu activity increases locally, an incident command unit would be activated, similar to the one Sorensen oversaw in Jacksonville. The TB outbreak served as good practice for public health workers and could prove useful in a wider outbreak, Sorensen said.

"This is an example of using incident command structure for weeks on end, which is what would be required in a pandemic," she said. "We are trying to look at how do you sustain a prolonged incident, how do you have everybody focused on this issue instead of their day to day operations, because that's what would be required if you had a bird flu or some emerging problem in this country."

The incident command unit allows public health officials to focus solely on a specific health threat. Volusia County activated the incident command unit to manage the 2004 hurricanes, the SARS outbreak, H1N1 flu in 2009 and an outbreak of a bacterial infection linked to petting zoo animals.

Sorensen's expertise and experience made her a good fit for the Jacksonville job, said Dr. John Armstrong, Florida's surgeon general. He credited her with contacting more potential Jacksonville TB cases and initiating treatment for 453 people with latent TB.

During part of her time as incident commander, Sorensen served as interim director of the Duval County Health Department after its leader announced his retirement with only one day of notice.

Sorensen's colleagues are happy to have her back, said Dixie Morgese, who works with the Health Department on maternal and child health issues.

"I think we have one of the most knowledgeable people on public health that we can have," said Morgese, executive director of the Healthy Start Coalition of Volusia and Flagler Counties.

FLU UPDATE

Flu activity is mild in Volusia and Flagler counties, according to the latest surveillance data released Thursday by the Florida Department of Health.

Influenza-like illness activity is increasing statewide, as can be expected during this time of the season, according to the report. The state as a whole is reporting widespread flu activity to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Statewide, 20 counties are experiencing moderate activity, 33 are reporting mild and 14 are seeing no activity. No counties are reporting widespread activity.

Visits to the emergency room for flu-like illness, though, have more than doubled from last year, according to Volusia County Health Department data. From Oct. 1 to Tuesday, 3,696 people have shown up in Volusia County emergency rooms with flu-like symptoms. That number during the same period was 1,787 last year, a mild season for flu.

Flagler County Health Department has also seen more flu-like illness, said Benjamin Juengst, environmental health director. From Oct. 1, 2011, to Jan. 8, 2012, emergency room workers saw 259 Flagler residents with flu-like symptoms. This year, that number is more than 400.

<p>DAYTONA BEACH &mdash; Like a scene out of a James Bond movie, the phone rang and Dr. Bonnie Sorensen received her assignment. </p><p>Go to Jacksonville and find 2,100 people suspected of having been exposed to tuberculosis, the person on the line said. Most on the list are homeless and sleep in crowded shelters. </p><p>Sorensen, director of the Volusia County Health Department, ventured north just after Labor Day and spent four months living in a hotel in Jacksonville, commuting home on the weekends. She served as incident commander of a special group dedicated to containing the TB outbreak and made Patrick Johnson, director of the Flagler County Health Department, second in command during part of her tour of duty. </p><p>"She is an incredible public health leader," Johnson said. "I pretty much jumped at the opportunity to spend some time working with her." </p><p>Public health workers under Sorensen's supervision checked databases and canvassed homeless shelters, jails, parks and underneath bridges to find those on the list. Positive cases of TB were given a 12-week course of antibiotics. About 12 percent tested positive, and most had the latent form of the disease, meaning their immune system had the disease in check and they were not symptomatic. </p><p>Sorensen resumed her normal duties in Volusia County Jan. 2 and is now watching another health threat &mdash; the flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expecting a particularly rough season, and Boston declared a public health emergency when hospitals became overwhelmed with patients with flu-like symptoms. </p><p>During Sorensen's absence, Dr. Celeste Philip, assistant director of the Volusia County Health Department, took the leadership reins. </p><p>If flu activity increases locally, an incident command unit would be activated, similar to the one Sorensen oversaw in Jacksonville. The TB outbreak served as good practice for public health workers and could prove useful in a wider outbreak, Sorensen said. </p><p>"This is an example of using incident command structure for weeks on end, which is what would be required in a pandemic," she said. "We are trying to look at how do you sustain a prolonged incident, how do you have everybody focused on this issue instead of their day to day operations, because that's what would be required if you had a bird flu or some emerging problem in this country." </p><p>The incident command unit allows public health officials to focus solely on a specific health threat. Volusia County activated the incident command unit to manage the 2004 hurricanes, the SARS outbreak, H1N1 flu in 2009 and an outbreak of a bacterial infection linked to petting zoo animals. </p><p>Sorensen's expertise and experience made her a good fit for the Jacksonville job, said Dr. John Armstrong, Florida's surgeon general. He credited her with contacting more potential Jacksonville TB cases and initiating treatment for 453 people with latent TB. </p><p>During part of her time as incident commander, Sorensen served as interim director of the Duval County Health Department after its leader announced his retirement with only one day of notice. </p><p>Sorensen's colleagues are happy to have her back, said Dixie Morgese, who works with the Health Department on maternal and child health issues. </p><p>"I think we have one of the most knowledgeable people on public health that we can have," said Morgese, executive director of the Healthy Start Coalition of Volusia and Flagler Counties.</p><p></p><p> </p><p><b>FLU UPDATE</b> </p><p>Flu activity is mild in Volusia and Flagler counties, according to the latest surveillance data released Thursday by the Florida Department of Health. </p><p>Influenza-like illness activity is increasing statewide, as can be expected during this time of the season, according to the report. The state as a whole is reporting widespread flu activity to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. </p><p>Statewide, 20 counties are experiencing moderate activity, 33 are reporting mild and 14 are seeing no activity. No counties are reporting widespread activity. </p><p>Visits to the emergency room for flu-like illness, though, have more than doubled from last year, according to Volusia County Health Department data. From Oct. 1 to Tuesday, 3,696 people have shown up in Volusia County emergency rooms with flu-like symptoms. That number during the same period was 1,787 last year, a mild season for flu.</p><p>Flagler County Health Department has also seen more flu-like illness, said Benjamin Juengst, environmental health director. From Oct. 1, 2011, to Jan. 8, 2012, emergency room workers saw 259 Flagler residents with flu-like symptoms. This year, that number is more than 400.</p>